G- mechanism for water heaters



23 192 1639 666 Aug 7 T. J. RADKE VALVE CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR WATER HEATERS [filed Sept. 28, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- m Q Q o a Q Q i o 7' I ML w Lg Aug. 23,1927 1,639 666 T. J. RADKE VALVE CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR WATER HEATERS F i'led qsept. 28. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q Q N THEODORE J. RADKE, 01 OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

VAL'VE-GEZHTRGLLING- MECHANISM FOR JL A'IYEIR HEATERS.

Application filed September The present invention relates to mechanisms'ior controlling a valve, such as a fuel valve, so that it will always be fully open or fully closed, except for an instant while it is shifting from one position to another, the opening and closing being eli'ected by mechanism under the control oil? a variable temperature or the like; whereby the valve is quickly opened when a predetermined low temperature is reached and is again quickly closed when the temperature rises to a predetermined. value. The object of the present invention is to produce a valve-controlling mechanism oi this type that shall be simple in construction, consist ol a few simple durable rugged parts, and be eliicientand reliable in operation.

Specifically stated, my invention comprises a valve tending constantly to close, a lever mechanism for opening the valve, a lock for holding the valve open, and a simple snap action tripping device under the control 01' a thermostat or other prime mover tor actuating the lever mechanism to quickly open the valve and then, when the proper conditions are reached, to place the actuating lever mechanism in an inoperative pontion and finally unlock the valve so as to permit it to close. The valve is therefore either tliully open or fully closed so that the fuel is either turned on fully or is completely shut oil, avoiding waste of fuel on account oi incomplete combustion. which would result it the valve were opened or closed slowly, and preventing the formation o l soot in the heater whose supply ol fuel is being controlled.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter he pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my ii'ivention and ot its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the liiccompanying drawings, wherein:

iiigure l is an elevation of a controlling mechanism arranged in accordance with the present invention, the valve being shown in section, and there being shown also a portion of a thermostatic controller; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the parts in the positions which they occupy when the velve is open, whereas in Fig. 1 the parts are in the positions which they occupy when the valve is closed; Fig. 3 is a section taken approximately on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, the

28, 1925. Serial No. 58,989.

device being inverted from the position shown in Big. 2; Figs. 4 and 5. are edge views of'the two members of the compound actuating lever for opening the valve and Fig. 6 is a section through the locking device or trigger taken approximately on line 6- -6 of Fig. 2.

heterring to the drawings, i represents a casing adapted to be supplied with acover, not shown. Attached to the lower end of the casing is a valve body 2. The passage through the member 2 is controlled by an upwardly seating valve 3 mounted on a vertical stein l with slides in lower and upper guides 5 and 6. A spring 7, surrounding the valve stem below the valve, tends constantly to close the latter by moving it upwardly. Extending upwardly through the valve body is a plunger 8 axially aligned with and resting on the valve stem. This plunger passes through a suitable bearing 9 in the bottom wall of the. casing 1 into the casing. Just below the upper end of the plunger there is an annular groove 10 that lies just above the bottom wall of the casing when the valve is open. The valve is adapted to be locked in its open position by a lip 11 fixed to the end of a swinging locking trigger 19.; the trigger being pivoted to the casing at a point 13 such that when the free end is swung toward the plunger the lip ll will enter the groove when the valve is open and thus hold the valve open. A spring 1eacts on the trigger in a direction tending constantly to hold it in its locking position, as shown in Fig. l. lVhen the trigger is withdrawn from locking engagement with the plunger, and the plunger is otherwise unrestrained, the valve is closed by its spring as shown in Fig. 2, the plunger projecting upwardly into the casing at this time.

The closing of the valve is effected by a compound lever consisting of two members l5 and 16. The member 15 is pivoted between. its endsto the rear wall of the casing,

as indicated at 17; one arm projecting past the end of the plunger and having a lip- 18 adapted to bear against said end under certain conditions. The lever-16 is hinged at one end, as indicated at 19, to the rear wall of the casing, and extends in front of the lever 15 past the vertical axis of the plunger. A strong spring 20 islconnected between the lever 16 and a portion of the casing, this spring tending constantly to swing the free end of this lever upwardly. The lever 16 16. Therefore, when the. spring 20. is left free to do so, it swings the lever 16 upwardly and, through the engagement of the pin 21 with the lever 15, swings the latter in a colinter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2; thus forcing the left hand. end of the lever down andcaui ing the lip 18 on this lever to press down on the upper end of the plunger. The sp ing 20 is strong enough to overcoi'ne the resistance of the spring in the valve and therefore, when the spring 20 is left free to act, it causesthe valve to be pressed down from the closed position shown in Fig. 2, to the open position shown in Fig. 1.

The compound. lever and the locking trigger are controlled by a tripping cam 22 pivoted, as indicated at 23, to the rear wall of the casing at one end thereof. The edge of this cam cooperates with a projection 24 on. the locking trigger to force the trigger into an idle position and again to permit it to assume its locking position. The projection. 24 may conveniently be a screw passing through the trig er, thereby permitt-ing adjustments to be made in order properly to time the movements of the trigger. The tripping cam has such a contour that when it is at one limit of its swinging movement, it is clear of the screwon the trigger and thus permitsthe trigger to be fully entered into the notch in the valveactuating plunger when avalve is open.

On the other hand. as the'cam approaches the other-limit of its movement, as shown in F ig. 2, it forces the trigger into its idle position. On the free end ofthe cam is a projecting pin 25 that overlies the free end of the lever 16; This end of the lever is peculiarly shaped. taking the form of an upwardly inclined finger having at the lower inner end thereof and again near the outer end, on the upper side, a concave seat, as, indicated at 26 and-27, respectively, for the reception of the pin 25.

The parts are so proportioned that, assuming them to be in the positions shown in Fig. 2, and that the cam 22 begins to swing ina counter-clockwise direction: the pin 25- will ride out of the seat 27, slightly depressing the lever 16, and the trigger will be permitted to swing toward the right until'it rests against the side of the valveactuat-ing plunger. After the pin has moved completely clear ofithe seat 27 and is ridingonthe straight inclined upper edge of the outer end of the lever 16, this inclined edge acts as a cam or wedge which, under the influence of the spring 20, pushes the pin 25 quickly toward the right and down, thereby form the plunger 8 down and opening the valve. The spring 20 is sufficiently powerful to cause the levers to move with a snap action as soon as the pin 25- has reached the position where the levers are left free to act. Consequently the valve opened with a. snap action. The valve also closes with a snap action as will herein after be explained.

The device that I' have illustrated is intended to control the flow of gas to a burner adapted to heat water in a tank, whereby when the temperature of the water drops to a predetermined:low level. the gas will be turned; on and, when the temperature rises to a predetermined maximum level the y will be again turned off. The mechan sm that I have heretofore described therefore shown as controlled by. a thermostat c device, the casing 30 o'l which extends through the wall of. a tank containing water to be heated,- the casing having a screwthreaded portion at the point where it enters the tank for the purpose of forming a tight closure of the opening and at the same time supporting the thermostatic de vice from the tank. The outer end of the casingfor the thermostat extends through one ofthe side walls of the cas ng 1 and is screwed to the latter casing by any suitable means as, for example, screws 82 passing through flanges 33 on the member 30 and into the rear wall of the casing 1. The movable element of the thermostat a part 34- that projects slightly beyond the outer end oi the thermostat casing. The part 31is adapted to act on a swinging controlling arm 35 pivoted its upper end; to the rear allof the casing 1 near the top thereof and hanging down opposite the end ofthe thermostat. On the lower end of the arm is a finger 36 that extends into the space between two separated horns 37 and 38 on the tripp ng cam 22. Between the arm and the casing is a spring 39 tend ing constantly to hold the arm against the thermostat. If desired, the tl'iermostat element 34 may cooperate with the head 4-0 of the screw 11 extending into or through the arm this screw beingadjustablo. In the arrangement shown, there is a locking nu; 42 on that; end of the screw that projects through the arm.

hen the temperature in the tank drops, the element 34 ofthe thermostat moves to ward the leftwhereas,-upon a rise in tent perature, it moves toward the right. Duringthe first of these movements. the spring 39 causes the swinging arm 35 to follow CJI after the receding thermostat element while,

during the second of said movements, the arm 85 is swung in the counter-clockwise direction against the resistance of its spring. In Fig. 1 the parts are shown in the positions which they occupy when the temperature of the water has dropped to the predetermined minimum. The valve is now open and the finger 36 on the controlling arm is held out of engagement with both of the horns on the cam. The valve being open,

fuel is supplied to the burner, so that the water is heated. As the temperature of the water rises, the element 3d of the thermostat will gradually move toward the right, pushing the controlling arm ahead of it. A fter this movement has continued for some time, the finger 36 on the controlling arm will engage with the horn 38, causing the tripping cam to swing in a clockwise direction. The pin 25 begins to ride up the inclined end of the lever 16, pressing this lever down against the resistance of its spring and leaving the lever free of any restraining influence, since the pin 21 drops away from this lever. Just as the pin 25 is ready to drop into the seat 27, the cam forces the locking trigger 12 toward the left, releasing it from thevalve actuating plunger. There is now nothing to prevent the spring in the valve from forcing the valve and plunger up, and therefore the valve will be instantly closed, the plunger rocking the lever 15 in the clockwise direction until its right hand end is almost in contact with the pin 21; the parts being now in the positions indicated in Fig. 2 and the lever 15 being still out of contact with the pin 21 so as to insure that it will not interfere with the complete seating of the valve. The final swinging movement of the trippingcam is brought about by the lever 16 and not by the controlling arm. it will be seen that the valve remains locked in its open position until at the instant when the compound lever reaches a heretofore explained, the valve-opens with a' snap action, and therefore it may be said to bealways fully open or fully closed.

The finger on the controlling arm does not touch either of'the horns on the cam when the arm and the cam are at either limit of their movements. Therefore. when the temperature is rising from the predetermined minin'iuni, the controlling arm will swing through an appreciable angle before it begins to actuate the cam. The same is true when the temperature begins to drop from the upper limit. The purpose of this is to permit the controlling arm to swing without doing any work during a portion of the temperature range, as it is only required that the cam be-moved near the end of each swinging movement of the control ling arm. The parts are therefore so d.e signed that the controlling arm serves only to swing the cam through a small angle, in order to bring the line between the axes of the pin 25 and the pivot 23 slightly past center, in order to permit the force of the spring 20 to become effective in order to complete the swinging of the cam in either direction.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a valve, of a spring tending constantly to close the same, a lever means tending constantly to open the valve, a trigger for locking the valve open, and a movable device constructed and arranged to hold the trigger iuits release position and the lever means in an idle position in one position of the device and permit the trigger to assume a lockingposition and the lever means to open said valve in another position of said device.

2. The combination with a valve, of a lever means tending constantly to open the valve, a trigger for locking the valve open, and a movable device constructed and arranged to hold the trigger in its release position and the lever means in an idle position in one position of the device and permit the trigger to assume a locking position and the lever means to open the valve in another position of said device.

3. The combination with a valve, of a lever mechanism tending constantly to open the same, a trigger for locking the uilve open, and a movable cam device coopeiatiug with the said trigger and said mechanism to move said lever mechanism out of operative relation to the valve while the latter is open and subsequently release the trigger.

42. The combination with a valve, of a lever adapted to engage with a part on the valve to open the same, a second lever having a part adapted to engage with the first lever and cause the latter to open the valve when the second lever is swung in one direction, a spring tending constantly to swing the sec ond lever in said direction,a trigger for locking the valve in its open position; and a controlling device for swinging the second lever in the direction opposite to the aforesaid direction, when the valve is locked open. and then releasing the trigger to permit the valve to close.

5. The combination with a valve, of means tending constantly to close the same, a trig ger for locking the valve open, a lever mechanismtcnding constantly to operate in adirection toopen the valve, aswingingmember said positions to releasethe, trigger means for swinging said member a portion of the distance lrom each of its positions toward the other, and cooperating elements on, said lever mechanism and said member forcausing the completion oi" the movement of the,

said member in eachdirect-ion to be effected; by the action of said lever mechanism.

(3. The combination with a valve, of means tending constantly to close the same, a lever mechanism tending constantly to open the valve, a trigger for locking the valveopen, and a movablevcamv device cooperating with said trigger and said mechanism to move said lever mechanism out of operative relation to the valve while the latter is open and subsequently release the trigger.

7. The combination with a valve, of a trigger for locking the valve open, a, lever mechanism tending constantlyv to operate in a direction to openthe valve, a swinging member having two positions in one of;

which it restrains the. lever mechanism-j and in the second of which it permitssaid mechanism to open the valve said member having a part engaging with said trigger in the first of said positions to release the trigger, meansl or swinging said member a" portion of the distance from each ofitspositions toward the other, and cooperating elements on said lever mechanism and saidmember for causing the completion of the movement of said member in each directionto-be eff fected by the action of said lever mechanism.

8. In, a mechanism of the character de scribed, a swinging lever, aspring tending to swing the lever in one direction, an

oscillating member having a part adapted to ride along a section of the lever and hmit the movement produced by the spring means "for moving sald member from each end of said section toward the other end, said section of the lever being so disposed with respect to the axis of oscillation of said member that it acts as a cam acted on by said spring to complete the movement of said member after it has been moved to a predetermined pointby said means.

9. In combination, a valve, lever mechanism for opening the valve, a spring acting on said lever mechanism in a direction to cause said mechanism constantly to tend to open the valve, a trigger for locking the valve open, a swinging member havinga part adapted to ride on a section of; said lever mechanism from one limit of its movement tothe other, means for moving said member from each limit a fraction of the distance tothe other limit, said lever sectionbeing sodisposed that it acts as a camactuated by said spring to complete the swinging movement. of, saith member in eachdirection, the parts being so arranged that \vh en said mem her is at one limit of its movement the lever mechanismis left free, to;open the valve and when it, is at theother limitsaid mechanism is restrainedirom opening the valve, and a parton said, swinging member for engaging with the trigger. andtripping it assaid memher. nears the last-mentioned limit.

10, The combination with a valve of a swingingcontrolling arm, means to actuate said arm in each direction, aswinging member having separated shoulders between which said; arm extends and by which said;

arm movessaidmember after the lost mo tion has beentaken up, levermechanism for opcrating- -thc valve, a, spring acting on said lever mechanismin a direction tending to cause. it: to, operate the valve, cooperating parts on said lever mechanism, and said swingingmember; adapted to restrain said lever mechanism from operating said valve when said member is at one'limit of its movement: and permit it: to operate the valve when said member is at the other limit of its movement, said parts being also so constructed that said lever mechanism completes the swinging movement of said member in each. direction after the controlling arm has carried it to a predetermined point.

11. The combination with a-valvc having a spring tending constantly to open it, a swingingmember having shoulders spaced apart, a. movable controlling device considerably narrower than the space between said shoulders playing between them for swinging said member, lever mechanism for opening the valve, a spring tending constantly to actuate said lever mechanism in a direction to open the valve, cooperating parts on said lever mechanism and saidmember for completing the throw of the latter: through the action of said spring when said member is moved a limited distance in either direction by said controllingdev-ice, said cooperating parts being also so constructed that in one of its extreme positionssaid member restrains the lever mechanismagainstopening said valve and in its other extreme position permits it to act to open the valve, a trigger for locking the valve open, and a part on said member for tripping, the trigger when said member reaches the first-mentioned extreme position.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

THEODORE J. RADKE. 

